This invention relates to the transfer of cycloalkyl groups by transalkylation of aromatics.
Transalkylation reactions are a useful means for transferring alkyl groups from one aromatic compound to another. In the Farcasiu U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,712, heavy petroleum oils, such as vacuum resids, and heavy fractions of tar sands and shale oil, are partially converted to more volatile hydrocarbons by mixing with light aromatic hydrocarbons and treatment of the mixture with a Friedel-Crafts catalyst such as aluminum chloride. It it believed that the conversion found is essentially a transalkylation, i.e. the resid undergoes dealkylation with concurrent alkylation of the light aromatic hydrocarbon. In addition to aluminum trichloride, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid is also suggested as being a suitable catalyst for the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,712. Note column 5, lines 16-19 and Example 8.
A number of known and useful compounds contain cycloalkyl groups bound to an aromatic ring. Examples of such compounds include phenylcyclohexane, phenylcyclopentane and dinitrocyclohexylphenol. Accordingly, methods for preparing such compounds are needed.